Tide basketball player a finalist for Team USA

Well, it’s for the World University Games, but its still Team USA.

The player is JaMychal Green. He’s one of the 14 players who made the finalist list. Of that group, 12 will make the team. The roster will be announced before the team leaves for China on Aug. 8.

Teammate Tony Mitchell was one of the 22 players who tried out for the team, but did not see his name on the list outside the coach’s office.

The finalists:
Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame
Marcus Denmon, Missouri
Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
Draymond Green, Michigan State
JaMychal Green, Alabama
Scoop Jardine, Syracuse
John Jenkins, Vanderbilt
Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara
Greg Mangano, Yale
Trevor Mbakwe, Minnesota
Ray McCallum, Detroit Mercy
Darius Miller, Kentucky
Aaric Murray, West Virginia
Shabazz Napier, Connecticut

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Tracking the Alabama free agent signings

Julio Jones at Saturday's Falcon practice. (AP photo by John Bazemore)

All five Crimson Tide players drafted in April have contacts in place. Here is the master list with two free agent pickups included.

First round
3. Marcell Dareus (Bills) $20.4 million/four years
6. Julio Jones (Falcons) $16.2 million/four years
25. James Carpenter (Seahawks) details unknown
28. Mark Ingram (Saints) $7.4 million/four years

Seventh round
208. Greg McElroy (Jets) details unknown

Free agents
Preston Dial (Lions)
Luther Davis (Bills)

The salary information came from the Associated Press. Julio Jones’ contract particulars came via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

If you want to see just how much different the rookie pay scale is under the new CBA, click here for the contract numbers for the 2009 first rounders.

For the vets, former Tide defensive back Roman Harper re-signed with the Saints for four years and $28.5 million.

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Ingram signs deal, gets new jersey number

Ingram chats with Drew Brees on Saturday. (AP photo by By Haber)

Mark Ingram signed his contract with the New Orleans Saints and watched Saturday’s practice from the sidelines. The AP story reports his contract is worth $7.4 million over four years.

You’ll see from the photo above, Ingram has a new jersey number.

The No. 22 he wore at Alabama belonged to veteran cornerback Tracy Porter. So Ingram wore No. 28 to Saturday’s practice.

Ingram didn’t practice Saturday because he didn’t participate Friday while contract talks continued.

As you can see from this photo, he wore No. 7 as a senior at Southwestern Academy in Flint, Mich.

To see the full story from the Associated Press, continue reading by clicking below.

Listing the players no longer with the Tide

This has been an active offseason for the Alabama football roster. It’s been written in pencil since January. Here’s the latest list of the players who were on the roster after the Capital One Bowl.

No longer with the program (11)
DL Marcell Dareus (went pro)
RB Mark Ingram (went pro)
WR Julio Jones (went pro)
DB B.J. Scott (transferred to South Alabama)
RB Demetrius Goode (transferred to UNA)
RB Corey Grant (transferred to Auburn)
LB Petey Smith (transferred to Holmes Community College)
OL Aaron Douglas (deceased)
DB Robby Green (transferred to California University of Pennsylvania)
WR Keiwone Malone (transferred to Memphis)
DL Brandon Moore (transferred to East Mississippi Community College)

Suspended indefinitely (1)
DL Darrington Sentimore

Receiver Keiwone Malone’s transfer to Memphis was first reported by Memphis Commercial Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins on Twitter.

Robby Green’s new home was identified by Chase Goodbread of The Tuscaloosa News.

The status of defensive lineman Kerry Murphy remains unclear. He did not participate in spring practice because of a lingering knee injury.

Read tomorrow’s print edition for more on the shifting roster.

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Iron Bowl documentary to air on ESPN

ESPN Films announced its slate of documentaries for the fall today. It includes a certain program of interest in this state.

Titled “Roll Tide/War Eagle,” the look at the Iron Bowl is scheduled for a Nov. 8 air date — a nice appetizer for the Nov. 26 game.

Here’s what the film’s summary on the ESPN release:

“With two Heisman trophies, two national championships and one crazed fan, the biggest rivalry in college sports, Auburn vs. Alabama, has reached new heights in the last two years. This is the story of the history between the two programs, the bad blood between its fans and how this intense rivalry came to a pinnacle, just when they ended up needing each other most.”

Read the full release by clicking here.

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Individual football tickets up for sale

Update: A call to the ticket office revealed a detail the news release didn’t. The tickets won’t go on sale until 8 a.m., on Aug. 1. I apologize for contributing to the confusion.

It looks like four Alabama opponents are returning some of their ticket allotments, so the seats are for sale.

Tickets are on sale for the following games:

Sept. 3: Kent State
Sept. 17: North Texas
Oct. 8: Vanderbilt (homecoming)
Nov. 19: Georgia Southern

The tickets can be purchased at rolltide.com, on the phone at (205) 348-BAMA or at the Coleman Coliseum ticket office.

Update: It’s been pointed out rolltide.com doesn’t appear to have an active link to buy these tickets. I’m checking on this and will update when the answer comes.

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Report: Top QB prospect makes a commitment

Gunner Kiel is considered the best quarterback in the Class of 2012. So news of his commitment is big. Since he was considering Alabama, it’s important here.

It appears Kiel will wear crimson, but not in Alabama. He reportedly committed to his home-state Indiana Hoosiers today. Quite a score for the program not built on football tradition.

Follow the explosion of news by clicking here for the Twitter reaction and links to stories.

Click here for all Alabama recruiting stories.

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Recruit hopes Town Creek connection continues

R.A. Hubbard star Floyd Jones (Daily photo by Jeronimo Nisa)

You’ll have to check out today’s Decatur Daily for a solid story about a high school senior hoping to join the generations of Town Creek natives playing in Tuscaloosa.

Floyd Jones, a quarterback and defensive back at R.A. Hubbard is being recruited by several SEC teams. But he’s hoping to get that offer from Nick Saban and Alabama to continue the Town Creed tradition of Antonio Langham, Chris Goode, Clyde Goode, and Pierre Goode.

“I really look up to those guys and, maybe one day, I could be like an Antonio Langham,” Floyd told ace  Daily reporter Cody Whitlock.

Click here to read the full story.

Click here for all Alabama recruiting stories.

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Former Tide signee Ricks signs free-agent deal

Update: Read the full story in the print edition by clicking here.

Former R.A. Hubbard High School star and Alabama signee Michael Ricks is headed to Baltimore tonight.

He just signed a free-agent deal with the Baltimore Ravens and will begin training camp in the morning. He texted his good news just before jumping on the metal bird.

Read more in tomorrow’s paper about his future in the big leagues.

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UPDATED: Alabama discommunicates T-town Menswear owner

Alabama announced this afternoon it disassociated itself for three years from the owner of the Tuscaloosa clothing store who displayed memorabilia of Alabama football players.

The school just release the letter dated March 31, 2011 from UA athletics director Mal Moore to T-town Menswear owner Tom Albetar. Yesterday the school released a cease and desist letter to Albetar telling to stop using any athlete’s likeness in promotional materials.

A definition of disassociation from the letter sent to Albetar:

Click to enlarge.

A statement from Moore and compliance UA compliance director Mike Ward, however,  said no violation had been committed.

Check back in a bit for a copy of that letter and what it means in this process.

Update: The disassociation letter says no specific rules appear to have been broken, but the amount of memorabilia didn’t look good for either party.  The letter went on to say it put athletes at risk of “NCAA investigations or sensationalized journalism based on assumptions that wrongdoing has taken place.”

Update II: You can read the letter from Moore to Albetar. Just click here for a copy.

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Updating a story from a few months back

Michael Ricks

Remember the story about Michael Ricks, the former Alabama recruit from Courtland who ended up at Stillman? We chronicled his road back to the top of his game where he hoped would lead to the NFL.

Well, the April draft came and went without his name being called. And because of the labor issues, free agents like Ricks had little to do. Just sit, wait, and wait some more.

Now the lockout is over and the free agent market is a circus. The former R.A. Hubbard star said he’s heard from the Dallas Cowboys, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Falcons in the past day.

He is weighing his options and hoping to come to a decision by first thing Wednesday morning.

Keep it here for any updates.

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View cease and desist letter from UA to clothing store

The case of Alabama athletes and the clothing store in the Tuscaloosa mall only recently came to light online.

Behind the scenes, the University of Alabama took steps to stop any possible behavior that violates NCAA rules. Here is one of the stories outlining the issue at hand.

Click here to read the letter UA wrote to T-Town Mensware asking to cease all promotions involving Alabama student-athletes. See the sample below dated Dec. 22 — eight months ago.

Click to enlarge.

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Ex-Tide TE agrees to free agent deal

The reports on the web indicate former Alabama tight end Preston Dial already found a NFL home. That lockout wasn’t over a few hours before the story made the rounds.

Dial is reportedly heading to the Detroit Lions. Read this or this for more details. There’s still a lot of work to do before he can land a roster spot. Remember, he was not drafted in April.

Dial was the go-to tight end as a receiver last season. His 25 catches for 264 yards ranked fourth on the team as a senior.

From a beat writer’s point of view, Dial was always solid when meeting with reporters. A friend to the media indeed.

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Eli Gold sticking with Tide

The Crimson Tide Radio Network announced the voice of Alabama football won’t be silenced any time soon. Eli Gold, play-by-play man since 1989, signed a four-year extension that will keep him in the booth through the 2017 season. Click here and here for samples of Gold’s work.

Ex-NFL assistant and Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage will remain his color commentator, but there will be a change in the on-field reporting.

Chris Stewart replaces former Tide linebacker Barry Krauss as the sideline reporter. Stewart has worked Alabama athletic events since 1999 and serves as the voice of Tide basketball broadcasts.

The rest of the crew remains intact with Tyler Watts and Todd Robbins handing the pre- and post-game broadcasts.

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Read the view of ‘Bama football in Australian newspaper

I’ve always been a fan of reading stories from an outside source on a local issue. This one is from another stratosphere.

The Brisbane Times — the one in Australia — wrote about hometown hero Jesse William’s path to the defensive line at Alabama. Here’s some flavor:

Williams himself has been overwhelmed by the amount of fan support he’s received since moving to the city to play for the University of Alabama’s football team, the Crimson Tide.

At just 93,000 residents Tuscaloosa is one 20th the size of Brisbane. Incredibly, the university’s Bryant–Denny Stadium holds more people than officially live in the city – 101,821.

The obsession with football is so great Williams admits it is hard for him to go anywhere without being noticed – or a Crocodile Dundee joke passing his way.

Click here and read the entire story.

For another story on a local topic from an outside newspaper, read this take on SEC Media Days from the L.A. Times. It makes some valid points on the absurdity of the event.

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